This disclosure relates to various infant warming and transport devices that are used to protect newborns immediately after birth, and particularly those that are used for transport of the infants either within hospital environments or between hospitals via ground or air transport. In the treatment of infants, and particularly those born prematurely, it is necessary to provide heat to the infant during the care and treatment of the infant and to minimize heat loss from the infant's body. This disclosure will refer to these devices generically as infant care transport devices. They can be called neonatal incubators, infant warmers, neonatal transporters, etc. This disclosure anticipates any of those names.
Such an infant care device is often a rigid box-like enclosure in which an infant can be kept in a controlled environment for observation and care. The infant care device may include a temperature control system, an air circulation system, including a fan, a humidity control system, a control valve through which oxygen may be added, and access ports for nursing care. To facilitate transport this structure is often mounted on a support system that may include wheels.
Infant care transport devices are exposed to shock and vibration effects during movement that transmit those shocks to the patient. In transport systems like neonatal incubators, shock and vibration occurs during loading and unloading of the infant care transport device into the transport vehicle, from rough roads, impacts from take-off and landings in planes and helicopters, movements of the aircraft in-flight, and just movement of the infant care transport device over rough surfaces as well as shock and vibration that occurs inside of the hospital due to thresholds, elevators, and accidental impact of the infant care transport device into walls, etc. These effects can result in serious life threatening injuries to comprised patients, especially premature infants where shock and vibration can cause brain hemorrhages and injury.
There is a need then to provide damping systems to these infant care transport devices that can dampen these shocks and vibrations and to take all axes (x, y, and z) into account.